Thursday, June 07, 2007

A Full Mesh Riding Jacket for the Colorado Summer

So I get this fully meshed riding jacket from an Ebay reseller yesterday after riding home early in 83 degree and sunny weather. It was very windy but I did not get any relief from the wind, must have been hot wind. This was while wearing my Firstgear Kilimanjaro Air Riding jacket which although partially meshed, has enough textile panels to block a lot of air on the really warm days like yesterday. Summers here in Colorado can top out above 100 degrees so a more ventilated jacket was in order.

So here's the jacket, fits me pretty well and is not too flashy. No reflective material though which I will remedy later on with some sew on stuff I think. However, it's nice and ventilated, at least in the couple of rides I've done since then.

This is the pic from the Ebay ad. While I personally don't look as good in the jacket as the model does in the photo above, and my loving wife describes me as the Michelin Man with it on, I still like it a lot.

Of course, both rides so far have been in cool weather. Heck, I had to put the liner from my Firstgear jacket on for last night's ride which dipped into the high 50s by the time I got home. Today's high is only supposed to be low 60s so no real test of the jacket's ventilation capabilities so far. However, the ride I took during lunch was quite enjoyable and one can feel the wind hitting everywhere that there's no armor.

It's a no-name brand, but seems to be made well, and of the abrasion-resistant stuff. Now to find a similar good deal on full meshed pants! The Joe Rocket Alter Ego Overpants I have now are not very ventilated.

Update: 10JUN07. Riding home on the I-70 slab, temps in mid-80s and hot. The mesh jacket did well. I was riding with a t-shirt on under the jacket and while not cool, was not uncomfortably hot either. The air was just hot and dry. I think I need to get me some long sleeved tshirts for hot weather riding, this way sweat gets trapped and the air coming in through the mesh cools me off.